Shadow's Light: New Path
by Centurion Maximo
Summary: Multiple kids have been experimented on against their wills. Now, years later, they must find each other and help bring down the people that did this to them, maybe with some help. (Rated T for now, might change to M later on.)


**Hello, everyone. Centurion here. Welcome to the first chapter of the actual fiction Shadow's Light: New Path. If you took a look at the trailer, you know this fiction was going to be written. This is my first full-length fiction. I've had this idea for a while, and I've chosen to get it out there for everyone to read. As usual, please enjoy.**

 **A/N: This fiction will have dark tones and subjects. Reader discretion is** **advised.**

* * *

"Aaaahhhh!" A boy with looked to be about 14 years old wearing a pine green t-shirt, black sweatpants with violet eyes, onyx black hair, and a small scar on his left arm woke up with a scream. He was sweating and panting like crazy. Tears were falling from his eyes. He looked down and saw that his clothes were soaked with sweat. He sighed, got up getting a fresh pair of clothes, and went to his kitchen to get something to eat to calm his nerves.

While the boy was walking to his fridge, he stopped to look at himself in a mirror, seeing bags under his eyes from nightmares of certain past events.

Also, the boy looked behind him and saw his trusty metal walking stick. Smiling, he thought about how he first got it, although he was contemplating upgrading it for better use.

As Andros reached for orange juice in the fridge, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. He was instantly suspicious of it and was trying to decide whether or not to answer it. He grabbed his walking stick, put it on his back, and started tip-toeing to the window to sneak out.

However, when he got to the window, something grabbed him through the wall, throwing him out into the open, resulting in him hitting the ground and rolling a little. When he was able to get up, he was surrounded by Beowolves.

Andros carefully but slowly took out his walking stick while looking at the Beowolf in front of him. These grimm must've thought he was an easy target if he was armed only with a walking stick.

The Beowolves all charged at Andros, aiming to claw him down, but he ran at one of them, then ducked down his head facing upwards as to keep looking at his opponents. He then swung his walking stick at the Beowolf's feet, catching the creature off balance, knocking it down.

The other Beowolves continued charging straight at Andros. He ran to a tree and just stood there.

One of the Beowolves increased it's speed, aiming to catch Andros in a tight hold, but at the last few seconds, Andros jumped up, not only dodging the Beowolf's attack, but also leading the grimm to ram it's head right into the tree, hard. Andros used the grimm's body to run and gain momentum before jumping again, whacking another Beowolf on the head with his walking stick, all the while smiling.

The Beowolves were being humiliated. Andros was just either whacking them around with his walking stick or making them hurt themselves. However, before Andros could perform more slapstick, the Beowolves were all killed via direct shots to their heads. Andros just stood there, stunned at the sudden deaths of the grimm. He then heard multiple pairs of footsteps. Turning his head to the left, he saw multiple people wearing black suits and lab coats.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Andros thought to himself. Then, he spotted a figure walking up wearing a black hooded cloak and was barefoot. His eyes widened merely seconds after seeing the figure which then morphed into a serious expression. "How the hell did you find me?" He seethed.

"It has been a while, Subject P-A-6." The hooded figure announced calmly. Andros said nothing to the figure, but send a glare towards the figure.

"It's time for you to come back." The hooded figure said holding out a hand.

"Then I suppose we'll just have to bring you back by force." The hooded figure said calmly. Waving a hand, the others moved in to capture Andros. No way Andros was going back to that dreaded place. He got into a combat stance, his walking stick ready to start whacking fools.

Within seconds, the group except the hooded figure spread around and started running to Andros. One of them brought out a modified, onyx black Atlesian Military Revolver, shooting at the boy. Andros ran to the side to dodge the shots. It almost worked, but he was slightly grazed in the left side while another continued running at him, throwing a straight punch, but he blocked it, delivering a roundhouse kick to the guy's head, sending him to the ground and knocking him unconscious.

Andros then ran towards the others, dodging a kick from his blind spot. He jumped up, whacking the person trying to kick him on the head with his walking stick, just like he did with the Beowolf. The person was seeing stars before he fell over.

Another that was running brought out a sword, attempting to slash at him, but Andros blocked it with his walking stick. Luckily it was made of metal. He performed a sweep kick, knocking this person off her feet onto the ground. He was about to knock her out, but someone else tackled him down to the ground. Andros knew what to do, headbutting him, then kicking him away.

"Enough." The hooded figure said suddenly, making the rest of the group that wasn't unconscious back off. "It seems I must bring you back myself."

"I'm never going back!" Andros shouted at the figure. Suddenly, the hooded figure took off his hooded robe and began changing. Claws began protruding from his toenails, red eyes suddenly started glowing in the dusk, claws grew from his fingernails as well, his skin became pale white, black veins appeared all over his body, the sclera in his eyes went black, and Nevermore wings burst out from his back.

All of a sudden, the humanoid grimm flew towards Andros, an arm reaching out. Andros tried to block the attack, but the grimm being grabbed him, pinning him to a tree. "Did you think you could escape?!" The figure shouted, his voice darker and and a little hoarser. Andros retaliated by kicking him in the head, making him release his grip. The grimm figure flew up while Andros rolled, grabbing a collapsible staff from one of the knocked out members of the group, aiming to hit the figure, but the latter just swatted it away. the figure attempted punching Andros, but the latter blocked. However, the figure grabbed Andros, throwing him to the ground.

"Now you come back willingly or die screaming." The figure said darkly. "Like the other..." He didn't get to finish as Andros knocked him down. Andros then pulled out a knife, hoping to stab the figure, but the figure flew up again, dodging the attack. Grabbing Andros yet again, the figure started dragging him on the grass.

Andros however managed to release himself from the grimm figure's grip, climbing onto his back, and using the knife to wound one of the wings, which actually worked as the grimm figure started losing speed and altitude, eventually crashing into the ground next to a cliff while Andros jumped, landing in front of the figure.

The grimm figure then started firing feathers from his Nevermore wings, forcing Andros to block the projectiles until he slipped off the cliff with the figure grabbing him at the last minute. "You will come back to the facility."

"I'll die before I go back!" Andros retorted angrily.

"Is that right." The grimm figure said. "Then let's make that official." The figure suddenly dug his claws into Andros's body. Andros screamed in pain as he felt a vital organ get hit. Then, the figure took out it's hand, revealing a chunk of skin torn off, resulting in Andros bleeding quite a bit.

The figure then threw Andros down the cliff, watching him hit multiple rocks on the way down. Soon, Andros his the ground hard with the figure suddenly kicking him into a tree, breaking a couple of ribs. On the ground, he was having flashes of the place he escaped from. Seeing himself strapped to a table, various tools and fluids, multiple people performing tests on him.

The figure picked up Andros. "Subject P.A.6. By refusing to return to us, you are now labeled as a failed subject. You are hereby liquidated and sentenced to death." At that moment, Andros found the strength to pull out a fire dust crystal, stick it in the grimm figure's wounded wing, and kick himself to the ground. The figure tried to pull it out, but it was too late as Andros pulled out an Atlesian Military Revolver like the one the guy who shot at him had. He lined it up, then shot a round, hitting the dust crystal dead center, igniting it, making the figure explode.

When the smoke cleared, Andros was still on the ground, holding the revolver. He slowly got up and looked around. He may have lost his walking stick, but he had a revolver now. He might find his walking stick sooner or later, but at least he still had a weapon to defend himself. He started walking slowly in the direction of a clearing. This was the start of something new for Andros Pax.

* * *

It was a clear night in Remnant. The shattered moon shining brightly in the clear sky. Andros Pax was walking in the darkness, still clutching the gaping, bleeding hole in his side from the battle. Unfortunately for him, his vision was blurring due to losing blood from the open wound. Andros was also looking around in every direction constantly in fear of being found and attacked again despite this not helping his current condition Soon enough however, he passed out on the forest clearing due to blood loss, not noticing an approaching shadow in the moonlight.

 _The same images of being strapped to a table along with various fluids and tools, and people performing their tests flashed through Andros's mind. It seemed like they were ingrained for some reason._

Andros quickly woke up, sweating heavily and wincing in pain due to his wound, grabbing it instantly. When he grabbed it though, it felt different, so he looked down and saw that it was covered in bandages. Just as quickly, he shielded his eyes from the bright morning sun. When he was a little less groggy, Andros saw that he was in a bedroom, with fresh clothes laid out for him, along with the shirt he was wearing. Andros felt slight relief when he saw his walking stick was in the same room. Although, he was asking himself a couple questions. Who found him lying seemingly lifeless on the forest floor? Who brought him here? Why did they bring him here? Who bandaged him up? These were questions he would ask whoever brought him here. He tried to get up, but he still felt pain, and it brought back to lying down. Perhaps resting still couldn't hurt.

Suddenly, Andros heard footsteps nearing the door. He couldn't do much as his walking stick was across the room and he was still in pain. When the door opened, it wasn't what he was expecting. From the door stood a 13 year old girl with short, black hair, black lips, orange eyes, black and purple fingernails, a black leather jacket, black jeans, and seemingly custom made black and purple sneakers holding a tray with eggs, bacon, and orange juice on it. The two looked at each other for a couple minutes until the girl moved to put the tray on a mobile table and brought it close to her new house guest. Andros looked at it for a minute contemplating before gently taking the fork and knife, starting to eat, albeit slowly and still keeping his eyes on the girl.

"You don't have to stare at me like that, you know." The girl said annoyed and suddenly making Andros choke on his food a he composed himself, he stared at the girl wide-eyed. "What?" The girl asked again still annoyed.

"O-Oh. Sorry." Andros apologized quickly. "I just didn't think you'd to speak to me."

"Well, it seemed like the thing to do since you were just staring at me." The girl replied, her voice losing a little bit of her annoyance.

"Again, sorry about that." Andros said rubbing his head. "I'm just trying to figure out what happened last night."

"Maybe I can help." The girl said.

"That would be nice." Andros said, still a little groggy while eating.

"Well, last night I found you passed out due to a gaping hole in your side, bleeding out, I think. Naturally, I freaked out, not knowing what to do at first. Making a decision, I brought you here where I could hopefully patch you up. After that, I put you in this bed, set your walking stick to where you see it now, and here we are." The girl explained.

Andros seemed to understand the gist of it. "T-Thank you." He said quietly. The girl seemed to hear it just fine though. "No problem." She replied with a small smile. "I'll be around in the house. When you feel able to move, go to the kitchen." Andros merely nodded as the girl left the room.

This was strange to Andros. He didn't know what to think. The paranoia side of his mind was screaming for him to run, thinking the girl was apart of the group that tried to capture him. The more rational part urged him to give this girl a chance. Maybe she wasn't so bad. He then started slowly moving out of the comfortable bed, letting his slightly aching feet touch the cold floor. However, when he fully stood upright, little pain was felt. Raising an eyebrow, he wondered why he felt little pain in the bandaged up wound. He decided to not worry about it right now. He put on his shirt and went into the kitchen with his glass of orange juice. Finding a chair, he sat down, drinking his glass, and looking around the kitchen. Just then, the girl walked in.

"Oh, good. You're able to move around." The girl smiled.

"Yeah. The pain isn't as bad right now." Andros said.

"That's good." The girl responded. "I thought you'd be in bed all day."

Andros would've preferred that, but he wanted to be at least courteous to the girl. The two mainly sat in silence until the girl decided to speak up. "So why were you out in the forest at night anyway?" She asked.

Andros started sweating a little trying to come up with an answer. "I-I was o-out for a walk. That's all." He managed to get out.

"Then why did I find you with a gaping hole in your side?" The girl continued. Andros was sweating a little more. He couldn't tell this person what really happened. "I-I was attacked by a pack of grimm." He answered quickly.

"Oh. I see." The girl said causing Andros to sigh heavily in relief for dodging a bullet.

"S-Still, thanks for patching me up." Andros said.

"Like I said, no problem." The girl repeated. "Do you want to see something cool?"

Andros looked at her for a couple minutes before replying "S-Sure."

The girl then got up and walked to a door, stopping so that Andros could catch up as he was still healing. Slowly, Andros caught up to the girl, who then wrapped an arm around him to help him. Three minutes later, they were in a workshop of some kind as there were tools lying around everywhere. Not only that, but there were also various weapons parts and dust crystals. The girl then took Andros to a large, lit-up table with weapons parts scattered all over it and his walking stick. "Pardon me for asking, but what are you trying to do here?" He asked as he was genuinely confused.

"Oh, this? I'm trying to make a weapon for myself, but I can't seem to get the right combination of parts!" The girl replied throwing her arms up in frustration.

"Well then, why is my walking stick here?" He asked.

"Oh. I was hoping it would give me ideas on how to build my weapon and maybe modify yours." The girl answered. Andros didn't say anything for a minute, but he understood what the girl was saying.

"I-It would be cool if you found a way to modify this old thing." Andros said.

The girl's eyes beamed. "Really?! You'd let me do that?!"

Andros took a step back. "Y-Yeah. S-Sure." He stuttered.

"Well, why don't you go back to bed and continue resting." The girl suggested.

"That would be a good idea." Andros agreed. He then slowly walked back to the room he was staying in, climbed back into the bed, and just sat there. He was still thinking about how this girl was treating him. She seemed nice, kind, and willing to help him, unlike those people in the images that flash in his mind. Eventually, he let drowsiness overtake him and he fell asleep.

* * *

A loud scream woke Andros up abruptly. His eyes wide, heart pounding as he was surprised. He got up as quick as he could and walked toward the source. He came across a closed door. He slowly opened it to see the girl wrapped in her covers, crying her eyes out. _"She must've had a nightmare."_ Andros thought to himself. He walked over to the girl, wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in a hopefully comforting hug. He smiled slightly when she seemed to relax in his embrace. "D-Do you feel any better now?" He asked quietly.

The girl merely nodded, tears still leaking from her eyes. "Thank you." She said just as quietly.

"N-No problem." Andros stuttered. "I-If you don't mind me asking, what did you see in your nightmare?" However, when he looked at the girl, she had fallen back asleep. Andros rolled his eyes, pulled the covers over them and drifted back to sleep, his back facing her as he didn't want to appear creepy.

The next morning, the girl woke up slowly, her orange eyes fluttering open, stretching her arms, only to suddenly feel an extra mass in her bed. Turning on her other side, she saw the back of the boy she saved. _"He must've heard me scream."_ She thought with a smile. She then closed her eyes and unconsciously wrapped her arms around him, but not before sparing a look at a small scar on her left arm.

When Andros woke up, he saw the girl's arms wrapped around him. He poked her cheek. "Good morning." He said. The girl's eyes fluttered open. "Good morning yourself, sleepyhead." The girl giggled.

The two got out of bed, walking towards the kitchen. When they sat down, Andros decided to break the ice. "I-I never got your name." He said.

"Oh." The girl realized. "I knew I forgot something! I'm Natalie. Natalie Shade." She introduced holding out a hand.

"A-Andros. Andros Pax." He replied shaking her hand. "Glad we finally got that out of the way."

"Same. It was a little frustrating that I didn't know your name." Natalie smiled. "Do you maybe want to take a walk and talk?"

"I'd actually like that. However, can I bring my walking stick?" Andros asked. Natalie nodded and ran to the workshop grabbing his walking stick. When she got back, the two were ready to head out.

* * *

Andros and Natalie were walking slowly in a clearing in the forest. They were trying to figure out how to start up a conversation. For now, they were admiring the serenity of the forest. Soon though, they found a large stump they could sit on. Once they sat down, they decided to end the awkward silence.

"So, the scenery is nice." Andros nervously stated.

"Yeah." Natalie replied just as nervous. Andros then noticed the small scar on Natalie's left arm. "Hey. When did you get that scar?" He asked, pointing to it.

Natalie looked at the scar herself and sighed. "Well, you see..." She didn't get to finish speaking as a fire dust round suddenly exploded, surprising the two, with them jumping backwards. When they looked around, they saw multiple people in black lab coats coming towards them. _"Not again!"_ Andros panicked. His face morphed into the serious expression he had the last time these people showed up. Natalie's expression

"Hey. Isn't that subject P.A.6?" One of the group quietly asked.

"Yeah. I think it is." Another of the group answered just as quietly.

"Well, well, well. if it isn't subject 6.H.8.D.E." A third person in the group announced. Andros's eyes widened at hearing that and looked at Natalie. _"Subject 6.H.8.D.E? Natalie's the same as me!"_ "You'll never take me back, you jerks!" Natalie screamed, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Oh, you will definitely come back with us." A fourth group member said suddenly pointing to Andros. "You and subject P.A.6." The member started running towards the two. However, Andros merely tripped her with his walking stick, resulting in her falling face-first to the ground. Natalie giggled at seeing this which caused another member to get mad and try charging them. Andros simply ran towards the guy, hitting him in the gut with his stick, then kicking him in the side sending him to the ground also. All the while, Natalie was just watching Andros fight these people. _"I have to do something to help him!"_ She thought, getting off the stump. Unbeknownst to her, a member of the group was attempting to sneak up on her with a sword. However, when the person slashed her, she seemed to disappear. Andros saw this at the last minute and went wide-eyed again. "Natalie!" He shouted, tears threatening to fall from his face before being knocked down. The person who slashed her seemed to smile until he felt a tan on his shoulder. He looked behind him to lay eyes on a shadowy figure standing right behind him. The figure then proceeded to sidekick him in the chest before hitting him in the neck, knocking him out.

Andros was astonished seeing this and got back on his feet. He used his walking stick to whack another group member hard in the head, making her actually bleed. He used her distraction to knock her out before falling back down. The figure ran to Andros. "Are you okay?" It asked.

"Natalie?" Andros asked astonished.

Natalie giggled. "Who else would it be, silly."

"B-But h-how?" Andros was surprised.

"It's my semblance." Natalie answered. Suddenly, the remaining conscious group members brought out their weapons and ran around the duo. The two looked at each other and nodded. They had a plan. It was time to execute it. Andros used his walking stick to block the enemy weapons and knock them all down." This is for ruining my life!" He shouted angrily. Then, Natalie kicked and punched them all in various places "And this is for what you did to us!" She screamed. When it was over, Natalie reverted to her human form smiling at Andros. "You're the same as me." He said quietly.

Natalie sighed. "Yes. I was experimented on against my will and... wait. What do you mean the same as you?" Andros rolled up his left sleeve, revealing the exact same scar on his arm. "I was also experimented on, but I escaped. I've been on the run ever since." He explained. "I honestly thought I was the only one." Tears were beginning to fall from Andros's eyes.

Natalie saw this and cupped his cheek. "Don't worry, Andros. You're not alone. Not anymore" She said softly. She opened her arms and Andros moved into her embrace. A moment later, the dam broke as Andros started crying in Natalie's arms. This only made her hug him tighter. "Let's go back to the house." She said. Andros nodded and the two got up. Suddenly, they heard more footsteps. Turning their heads, they saw a hooded figure just standing there not making a move. "Subjects P.A.6 and .6.H.8.D.E. Truly this is what people say a lucky day." The figure said suddenly. "It's time for you two to come back."

Andros and Natalie stared down the hooded figure. "No way we're ever going back!" They shouted at the same time.

The hooded figure sighed in exasperation. "Alright then." The hooded figure began to transform. Andros thought back to the last time he was attacked by one of these hooded figures, only he saw that this one was different. Beowolf claws grew from his hands and feet. Teeth grew sharper, skin became ghostly white, and eyes became red. "What in the hell?!" Natalie screamed, obviously scared of what she was seeing.

The new grimm figure charged at them, with Andros and Natalie barely able to move out of the way. _"This one had more speed."_ Andros thought. He tried using his walking stick to distract the grimm figure while Natalie went in for a sneak attack, but the figure smelt Natalie coming and slashed her with claws, sending her off the ground for a minute before falling back down. When Natalie assessed the damage, she saw that she had started bleeding. The grimm figure then kicked Andros in the shoulder, then threw to ground beside Natalie. "Come on, Natalie! We have to get up!" Andros urged. Slowly but surely, Natalie managed to get off the ground.

Suddenly, the grimm figure charged at them again, but this time pinning Andros to a tree. _"Really? Again with this."_ He thought. "Really? Nothing to say?" The figure taunted. Instead of speaking, Andros blow red spores from his mouth into the figure's face, causing pain for the figure as his face was bleeding suddenly, including the eyes. Blood was starting to pour from the grimm figure's eyes almost like a fountain. Those spored must've done something. Andros used this opportunity to get some hits in with a multitude of punches and kicks. Natalie used this to her advantage and melted into the shadows. A minute later, she appeared behind the grimm figure fast enough for her to get in her own hits, actually knocking the grimm figure onto his back. Andros walked up to the figure along with Natalie who was still clutching her wound. "We're never going back." Andros said with a dark tone before taking out his Atlesian Military Revolver and shooting the figure directly in the head, killing him. Natalie looked at Andros in utter shock, but in her gut, she knew it had to be done.

"Now we can go back to the house." Andros said, helping Natalie back. Natalie grunted in pain from the wound. Luckily, Andros noticed this, placing her on his back, and began walking back to the house.

An hour later, the two were back at the house patching themselves up. They were still trying to process that they were similar. They were both experimented on and escaped, on the run ever since. It was a lot to take in. Once they finished patching up, they met in the kitchen sitting in silence at first. "So, we're similar.: Natalie said quietly.

"Yes. As you've seen, we've both been experimented on against our wills." Andros said sadly.

"We escaped though! And now we know we're not alone in the world. That's gotta mean something."

"It does. A smile actually appeared on my face today for the first time in my life because of you." Hearing that got Natalie's cheeks to turn a shade of pink. "I-I'm glad I was able to do that."

"Still, I now feel like there are more people like us out there. We have to find them."

"We will, Andros. Together." Natalie said holding out her hand.

"Together." Andros said, shaking Natalie's hand. Andros was smiling genuinely for the very first time in his life. In fact, why wouldn't he be smiling right now? He finally has something he never had: A friend.

* * *

 **Hello, everyone. That was the first chapter of Shadow's Light: New Path. This is my first full-length fiction. I appreciate feedback on this fiction as well. If you do have feedback, let me know in the comments or PM me.**

 **As you've read, Andros has a hard time talking to people because of obvious reasons. It takes quite a bit of the chapter to be able to talk to Natalie without stuttering, mostly. I'm also sorry, no semblance reveal for Andros this chapter. That will happen later in the story. Although, we do see another ability of his. Nonetheless, this is just an interaction and introduction between two OCs.** **Andros Pax is the character from the trailer of this fiction. He's wound up with the girl Natalie Shade, another OC of mine. A total weapons nut, trying to make her weapon throughout the chapter, as well as try to modify Andros's walking stick. Like Andros, she has a small scar on her left arm, meaning that she's the same as Andros. She was also experimented on by the same people, resulting in the two actually understanding each other. For the first time in his life, Andros isn't alone. Also, I'm sorry if the fight scenes aren't that great. I'm still getting the hang of writing a full-length story. Hopefully, I'll get better with time and practice.** **Natalie's semblance was altered by the experiments, allowing her to become a shadow herself. I felt it would be a badass semblance for an OC character.**

 **Writing this has inspired me to start working on another full-length fiction. See you at the next update of Shadow's Light: New Path.**

 **-Centurion Maximo**


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